The Best of Friends Read Free Page A

them in jewelry—about twelve million.
    A few of the diamonds were white, but most of them were colored. They ranged from pale yellow to champagne to cognac to the rare dark pink stones.
    “Very nice,” Hans said.
    “Thank you.”
    She pulled her inventory list and her triplet loupe out of her purse, then set the bag on the bed. Hans also had an inventory list and a loupe. Together they went over each diamond, confirming it was exactly the same as it had been before they’d left Italy. When they were finished, they signed each other’s copy of the paperwork and she put the diamonds in the safe. Hans made a call to the insurance company, letting them know the diamonds were back in her possession.
    “Great doing business with you,” Rebecca said. “The limo driver will take you wherever you want to go.”
    Hans put his jeweler’s loupe back into his jacket pocket, then smiled. “Or I could stay.” He moved toward her. “Just for an hour.”
    He was big and handsome and probably knew what he was doing, and she couldn’t have been less interested in an afternoon quickie with a stranger. Must be jet lag, she told herself. It couldn’t be for any other reason.
    “A thrilling offer,” she said with a smile. “Tempting, but no.”
    “You’re sure?”
    “Yes.”
    He shrugged as if to say the decision was incredibly stupid on her part, then left. When she’d locked the front door behind him, she returned to explore the rest of the condo.
    There was a master suite, with a balcony and west-facing view of the Pacific; a big living room with the same view as the master; and a kitchen she would use only to store leftovers. An envelope from the car rental company sat on the counter. She opened it and withdrew the keys. A note told her which underground parking space held her car, information she would need when she went out to get something to eat. Or maybe she and Jayne could walk down to one of the oceanfront restaurants for an early dinner.
    Rebecca went into the master to deal with her luggage. Hans had carried the diamonds, because they were the most valuable, but she had the settings with her, and a little something Hans and the insurance company didn’t know about.
    She opened her carry-on and pulled out several boxes of platinum settings that she’d designed over the past year. One-of-a-kind pieces waiting for her beautiful diamonds to complete the looks. She removed her small laptop, a book, the OK! magazine Jayne had bought her, and a six-pack of Oreo cookies. When the bag was seemingly empty, she felt around at the bottom until she found a small plastic snap partially concealed by a fold in the lining. She pulled it free and removed her treasure from its hiding place.
    Three layers of soft cloth protected the uncommon stone. She unwrapped it, letting it fall onto her palm where it winked in the afternoon light. Six carats of perfect blue diamond.
    Blue diamonds were so rare, most jewelers never saw one. Rebecca remembered her father taking her to the Smithsonian years ago, where she’d seen the famous Hope diamond. But that stone, while large, had been a grayish-blue. This one was deep ocean blue. Flawless. Precious.
    Nigel had given it to her six months ago, when he’d flown to Milan to tell her he was getting married. But not to her.
    Despite her claims of independence, her need to go it alone, she had truly been defined by two people in her life—her mother and Nigel. She had loved others—her father, David, and, of course, Jayne. She’d hated her mother, and she’d lived through every emotion possible with Nigel. In the end, he’d chosen someone else.
    She’d told herself that it didn’t matter, that she was too powerful for him, too determined. That he had never respected her abilities, her intelligence, or her drive, and that he’d been threatened by her success. All of which was true, but didn’t take away the ache inside. For ten years he’d been the center of her universe, and now,